Meet the school board candidates ahead of the June 6 election

The election will be held Tuesday, June 6. 

The Capital Journal asked the candidates a series of questions about why they’re running, what they hope to accomplish and more. Their answers — appearing in alphabetical order by last name — are listed below.

Why did you decide to become a candidate? 

Cronin: I might blame my family on my involvement and desire to serve on the Pierre School Board but I think I inherited that interest! It would be hard to measure up to what other family members have done or are doing in community service but that’s how we grew up. After my dad came home from the war he and his buddies set to work to improve their community across the river. I learned the importance of “doing for others” with what I might have and with my skills, talents and time. I learned that if we can help make things better or keep things moving forward, we should do it without fanfare. It’s not about me, it’s a bigger picture concept on how teams or organizations who work together can accomplish much more than the individual. Service often comes with controversy as there will always be other perspectives or opinions in how things should have been addressed. I learned, as a teacher and then principal, that decisions need to consider more than an opinion or personal perspective and that the strategies to make things better take many things into consideration.

I stepped up as a candidate because I have more than an interest in the Pierre School District. I am committed to the district and have been throughout a career in education and my time on this school board. I brought no agenda to the table when I first came on board and have operated the same way since my first meeting. I’m an advocate for all kids and would operate the same if my own kids were still in our schools. I don’t have an ax to grind regarding staff or policy and I tried to provide insight in the other questions as to my philosophy about educating students. I’m a candidate for a position on this school board because I believe we bring our different perspectives and experiences to the table in a very positive way to help the administration address issues and challenges. I believe our working relationship is an example of what our parents and community expect from our service. I want to continue to bring my influence into that process.

Livermont: Moving back to Pierre in my retirement I noticed all the job openings that are for entry level management positions, apprentice welders and electricians and even butchers. Positions that with a little more help the 30 to 40 graduates a year that will stay in Pierre and not go on to a higher education should qualify for. Those folks, we need to allow them to be the assets we need and they want to be for Pierre.

While Pierre has a large number of graduates that go on to higher education, most likely they will not move back to Pierre when they get their degrees. At the same time we have 30 to 40 graduates a year that do not and will most likely be lifelong residents of Pierre. My parents moved to Pierre in the 1950's. I was born and raised in Pierre. Went to Washington school, Pierre Jr. High (back then) and Riggs Sr, High School. I understand Pierre's unique position of a rural town and rural town values amd being a 'large' community in a very sparsely populated area. In my career as a computer programmer and technology manager I've had numerous opportunities to build concessious on goals and create plans to achieve those goals that stakeholders and participants can agree to. I bring these small town values and "get'er done" skills to the table.

Muldoon: I learned about our Pierre students being just 54% proficient in reading, 51% proficient in math, and 50% proficient in science. And then, I listened to the Board and its President Dan Cronin repeatedly tell parents it wasn’t their job to present a plan to turn things around. I totally disagree. The main purpose of a school board is to improve the performance of its schools. The men and women we elect to serve on this Board are the ones accountable for student success. Again, with just half our kids proficient in reading, math, and science, I cannot see how we can continue with our current Board President. I am a lifelong resident of South Dakota, and my family and I also ranch in Pierre.

During my decade of service as a Naval Helicopter Rescue Swimmer, I developed curricula, reviewed procedures, and made policy recommendations to some of the best airmen in the Navy. I have two beautiful girls, one already in the Pierre school system and another joining this fall. As a community, we need stronger leadership, more parental involvement, and much greater accountability.

What do you see as the major issue facing the Pierre school system?

Cronin: I understand that perspectives do vary on what could be considered a “major” issue for the Pierre School District. If you were to ask this question a couple of years ago I don’t think there would be much argument in suggesting that student and staff health was our major issue. Our district has a reputable history of trying to provide opportunities for success for all of our students and those efforts target several components within our plans. Funding and budgets, curriculum, federal and state regulations, recruitment and retention of quality teachers, administrators and other staff, school safety, facility improvements, and student well-being among others are all what I might call “critical” issues that we have on the table with each of them seeming to move up or down the priority list depending on needs and circumstances. At our most recent board meeting, Superintendent Glodt highlighted our concern for school attendance and I expect that issue will see more attention as we start the new school year in August. We have had recent criticism at our board meeting from the ‘Moms For Liberty’ group imploring us to improve our student test scores for reading. I have been involved with the Pierre School District for many years as a former teacher, principal and board member and can say that our district works diligently at trying to improve not only the results from standardized testing but all areas addressed in our goals and school improvement plans. This is not new to us in spite of how a new organization in town views our district. Pierre School District relies on parent and community engagement and support in order to provide the best for our students. Our tradition is rich in having that and is very much needed and appreciated

Livermont: I do believe that over the years Pierre has done a good job at educating our children. However, there are 2 issues I see we need to address. The pandemic has impacted our kids nationwide and Pierre is no exception. It can't be denied that Covid-19 with the resulting health restrictions very much hampered our children's education and is reflected in our testing scores. That is not a systemic problem and we already have processes in place to address non-proficiency that we can use a modified version of those processes that allows those that just fell behind to catch-up. Don't get me wrong, that will be hard work, however, the processes are pretty much already there.

What I believe is a more systemic issue, is what are we doing to help the 30 to 40 students a year that graduate and do not go on to higher learning. Those students are more likely to stay and live in Pierre. What are we doing to ensure these folks can qualify for the higher paying non-college degree and skilled labor jobs we have in Pierre? While we are doing some things, we can do a lot more for more of those students. We need to see them as the assets they are for Pierre and help them to be higher wage earners and more productive citizens.

Muldoon: Lack of leadership. Pierre students are just 54% proficient in reading, 51% proficient in math, and 50% proficient in science. Despite repeated requests from parents to the Board and its President Dan Cronin asking them to present a plan to turn these numbers around, the Pierre School Board has refused.

The School Board has clear duties and responsibilities to ensure our kids’ academic success is a priority. Most notably, the Board is responsible for selecting a curriculum and also evaluating the success of that curriculum. But, again, when asked what they plan to do to turn around our reading, math, and science scores, they respond with, "That’s not really our job." The only conclusion community members can reasonably reach is that our current school board members are satisfied with sub-par performance in academics. I am not.

Do you have specific ideas for the improvement of the Pierre School District? 

Cronin: My attitude is that we can always improve, for the right reasons and in the right ways. Each of our individual schools have improvement plans that teams of helped to put together in order to address issues and needs. Those efforts are not always observed or communicated and there are times when questions and criticism surface due to someone not knowing or understanding what is happening in our schools. Maybe that’s an area we can work on to improve.

I was in the school trenches when the politics of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) created controversy and inconsistencies in schools across the country. I have been involved with a school placed on the “need for improvement” list due to one sub-group of students who didn’t test very well. We implemented an improvement plan that required us to meet a higher standard for two consecutive years and we met that goal. We were then acclaimed as a “high performance” school and recognized by the governor and other politicians for the good work on improving test scores. My problem with so much of that was that we were already a “good” school and were striving to be “great”. We were identified due to a standardized test score on one particular day of the year. None of that data showed how our teachers and students were doing day-to-day nor did it include so much of the progress measured by more informal assessments done by staff.

Politicians don’t see what’s happening in the trenches of schools for the most part. Although I will give credit to our local state representation for their interest and support of the Pierre School District. They have shown genuine concern and interest in our schools and have shared reinforcement for how we are trying to operate. National and even state educational policy uses NAEP results but individual schools don’t as we don’t get the results for our own students. Our board and administration have heard criticism lately due to some of our students not testing as high as we would want them on the most recent state assessments. The ‘Moms For Liberty’ group, newly arriving in Pierre, has petitioned us to change our curriculum and teaching to help improve our reading scores. The theories on how students learn and the curriculum that helps them best have a long history of controversy that sometimes results in “knee jerk” reaction to trying to make things better. I’m not opposed to change and do believe that we need to constantly look at options but I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater in that process. Can we do better? We’re trying. We’re not ignoring test results and we are trying to look at all of the aspects of what’s best to help all of our students. I’m not an administrator anymore so it’s not up to me to identify or implement the right strategies. That’s why we have quality and knowledgeable teachers and administrators running the programs. I’ll offer questions but will reserve trying to tell the staff how to teach the students. I like to think we’re in this together – the administration, teachers and staff, the students and parents and our community. We will continue to express the value of a good education as a priority.

Livermont: We can increase our partnership with local businesses and non-profit organizations that we already work with, such as ProStart and SkillsUSA. Reach out to other districts such as Tea where a business sponsors school welding and welding competitions. To expand on and create more CTE programs that develop "apprentice" certificates for such things as welding, electricians, C-Store and fast food management and can even include Project Management. I would like to further our efforts for the non-higher education bound graduates.

As Governor Kristi Noem recently recognized, there are numerous jobs that do not require a college degree and she is in the process of lowering the educational requirement of several more. I would like to see our students qualify for the $25 hour management job at McDonalds more so than the $15 hour entry-level staff job. To qualify for the C-Store assistant manager position more so than the cashier.  We need to allow these graduates who will live in Pierre to be the assets we need and they want to be.

Muldoon: There are quite a few. But the number one priority must be to drastically improve our reading scores. Our District must immediately move away from the failed Balanced Literacy program we currently use. We need to fully embrace the teaching of phonics. This includes making sure our teachers have the tools, resources, and training they need to teach phonics. 

I’d like our schools to be the envy of every district in South Dakota. We have that in a lot of our athletic programs, but our reading, math, and science scores clearly show a need for improvement in the classroom. Our teachers need the very best tools and resources. Parents need to come alongside their students to make sure they’re achieving their full potential. And our School Board needs to provide leadership and vision to help us get to a much better spot.

We are blessed to live in an incredible community. The families that call our community home want nothing but the best for their kids. So, our education system needs to help them get to that.